Recommended Read: Siddhartha

Whether you are riding a wave of encouragement and positive energy or looking for inspiration that can aid in getting out of a rut, this novel can help. The story of a young man, Siddhartha, and his journey to find himself. The book starts with the young boy and him telling his father that his planned life of meditation and academics won't fulfill the burning desires in his chest to conquer life and experience all of its wonder. The novel takes you through years and years of Siddhartha's life. His struggles as a Samana - the life of the contemplative aesthetic to his time exploring the physical avenues of life as a merchant and gambler.

The book always asks the question a lot of us have: what is this life all about? Through his own travels, Siddhartha helps lend some insight. Originally written in German in 1922 by Herman Hesse who later went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize in Literature by another one of his novels the book acts as an existential road map for the reader. It is a book that cannot and should not be read just once in life.